I used to be a chicken thigh trimming Nazi! I would lose a ton of the edible parts trying to cut off all that visible fat and other unappetizing looking stuff. BUT–If you just cook the thighs, un-trimmed, it almost all cooks away!

BBQ Ingredients

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1/3 c honey or molasses
• 1/3 c red wine vinegar
• 3 T worcestershire sauce
• 1 (not 1 can) chipolte pepper in adobo*

Method

Place the chicken thighs in a plastic zip top bag. In a blender or food processor, blend up the rest of the ingredients until smooth and pour into the plastic bag. Let marinate in the fridge up to overnight. If you don’t have time to marinate, just skip it and follow the rest of the steps below.

To cook, place chicken thighs in a pre-heated saute pan and sear on each side, about 4 minutes, or until cooked through. Don’t fidget with the chicken, let it get nice and brown and caramel-ly on each side! Brown=Flavor. Remove the thighs and pour the reserved marinade into the same pan. Boil the marinade for 3-5 minutes to thicken it and kill any raw chicken bacteria. Pour the BBQ sauce over the chicken.

Cukes and Onions Ingredients

• 1/2 English cucumber (doesn’t need peeling or seeding, here’s what you’re looking for)
• 1/2 red onion
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 3 T olive oil
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 1/2 t sugar
• 1/2 handful mint leaves
• S & P

Method

Slice the cucumbers and onions as thinly as possible and place in a bowl. If you don’t have a hand-held mandoline, I would strongly recommend you look into purchasing one of those handy, time-saving and cheap gadgets.

Whisk together the rest of the ingredients and pour over the top of the cucumbers and onions. If you have a jar with a screw top lid you can just add the ingredients and shake the heck out of it. I think this is easier and dirties up fewer dishes!

Let the cukes and onions marinate–unless you like raw red onions. The lemon juice “cooks” the onions. They become softer and the flavor becomes less harsh with time.

{*You can find these is the Latin section at almost any grocery store. They’re not much more than $1 per can. Here’s what your’e looking for.}

This salad is very traditional, but for some reason, people seem to forget it exists. If you have some fresh herbs lying around, like oregano, basil, thyme, parsley, chives, throw them into the mix too!

Salad Ingredients

• 2 romaine heads, chopped
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 5 hard boiled eggs, chopped
• 1 avocado, chopped
• 6 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
• 2 tomatoes, chopped (or 2 handfuls of grape tomatoes)
• 1/2 English cucumber (doesn’t need peeling or seeding, here’s what you’re looking for)

Method

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Ta-da. Very easy and full of flavor.

Vinaigrette Ingredients

• 1 roasted red pepper
• 2 T mayo
• 2 glugs of olive oil
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 2 T red wine vinegar
• S & P

Method

Combine all the ingredients into the smallest bowl of your food processor or a blender and blend until smooth.